NGC2244 - The Rosette Nebula (HaRGB)
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An early Ha(Ha+R)GB image of the Rosette Nebula from the original Ballauer Observatory.
Date: December 17, 2004
Location: The Ballauer Observatory near Azle, Texas
Conditions: Transparency 4.8 mag zenithal, seeing 7/10, temperature 38°F, camera cooled to -25°C
Equipment: Takahashi FSQ-106 at f/5 on a Takahashi NJP mount
Camera: SBIG STL-6303E (Ha) and SBIG STL-11000 (color), self-guided
Filter: Custom Scientific 4.5nm hydrogen alpha spectral line filter
Exposure Info: Ha(Ha+R)GB, 180:15:40:40 minutes
Processing: Reprocessed in May 2013. Dark frame calibration, flat fields, registration, and Winsor Rejection combine in PixInsight 1.8. Channel processing in PixInsight 1.8 using Dynamic Background Extraction, Histogram Transformation, Local Histogram Equalization, HDR Multiscale Transform, and noise reduction. Final HaRGB combine, deblooming (Ha channel), color balance, curves, levels, selective sharpening/blurring/despeckle in Photoshop CS6.
- What it is
- NGC 2244, the Rosette Nebula, is a large emission nebula surrounding a young open star cluster at its center.
- Constellation
- Monoceros
- Distance
- ~5,200 light-years
- Apparent magnitude
- ~4.8 (per Jay's own zenithal transparency reading); the cluster itself is closer to magnitude 9
- Angular size
- ~80 × 60 arcminutes
- Coordinates
- RA 06h 32m, Dec +04° 52′
This summary was generated by an AI assistant from general astronomical references, not from Jay's own notes on this specific image. Treat every detail above as a starting point for research, not settled fact.